Designs which are able to satisfy the tastes of a mixture of diverse users are continually being sought in modern mobile telephones. These designs may come in various forms, for example, mobile telephones are now designed in various types of exterior shape, color, and the like. In addition, straight, fold-open, and slide designs and the like are also available. In addition to these designs, it is also possible for a mobile phone to be lit up using a key backlight provided in a key operating section, for example, in order to satisfy the tastes of users (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, the aforementioned key backlight in a mobile phone described in Patent Document 1 is formed by a monochrome light, and there is no catering for individual tastes. Namely, it is not possible to adjust the settings of the color or lighting method of the key backlight of a mobile telephone in order to satisfy the preferences of a user.
Moreover, among mobile devices having a key backlight function which illuminates the key, input section, mobile devices that enable a plurality of input keys to be individually lit up or left unlit have also been proposed. For example, the mobile terminal disclosed in Patent Document 2 causes a green LED or a red LED to be lit up or left unlit in a predetermined lighting pattern in accordance with the remaining battery charge.
Moreover, the mobile telephone disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a multi-color light emitting portion which illuminates a plurality of keys from the rear, and the plurality of keys are controlled such that they are lit up or left unlit in accordance with the operation of the mobile telephone. Furthermore, the communication device disclosed in Patent Document 4 imparts various items of state information to a user using a plurality of backlight patterns.
In the aforementioned state display method which utilizes a key backlight function, the remaining battery charge and state of the communication device and the like can be displayed using a backlight pattern. However, the keys which are not lit up by the backlight pattern are not illuminated so that the fundamental function of the key backlight cannot be obtained.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-101195
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. H10-145475
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-217904
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 2006-520125